Sermon Luke 12:13-21 for Pentecost +8C, August 4, 2019
I don't know where the time has gone, but here we are in August, and the summer is more than half over! The days are still hot enough, but you've noticed the nights getting longer already, haven't you? The short growing season we have in this part of the world is drawing to a close, and we're thinking about harvest coming in. Lots of fruits and vegetables are already in glass jars and freezer bags – and while the field harvests aren't ready for a while yet, farmers are sizing up what kind of crop we can expect when the time is ripe, and people are thinking about how to bring it in, how to transport it, and how to store it all. It's time to start thinking about those things. Because the growing season is short.
The rich man in our gospel lesson is thinking about those things too. He's lying in bed at night thinking of bigger barns to store his abundant harvest. He's thinking that this year, he's finally got it made, and his future is secure for many years to come. Maybe this is the year he can finally retire and spend the rest of his life eating and drinking and having fun. But then -- the Lord speaks to him and tells him that he is a fool.
Firstly, he's a fool, because he's planning for a future that he's not going to have, because this is the night he will die. And, as we all know, “you can't take it with you”.
Secondly, he's a fool, because he's been immoral and he has no time to mend his ways. He's been immoral, because according to the Bible, when you have an ample harvest for the year, all you can use and then some, you don't build bigger barns to store the surplus. You give it away! You leave it in the field for the poor to glean, or you gather it in yourself and bring it to those who aren't doing as well as you. The economic policy of the Bible is: nobody gets seconds until everybody gets firsts. And as the prophets were fond of saying, if you think God wants you to have your future secure for 20 years while your neighbour isn't secure for next week, think again!
And thirdly, the rich man is a fool because he's been concerning himself with the wrong kind of barn for storing up the wrong kind of wealth. He should have been thinking less about agricultural growth or economic growth, and a lot more about spiritual growth; but now it's too late, because it turns out THAT growing season was short – a lot shorter than he thought.
Do I need to tell you this? I hope this is all really obvious to you. We've been telling and retelling this parable for a 1000 and a 1000 years, and it HAS made some inroads into the values of our culture. We all know on some level that money isn't everything; and we all know on some level that we owe something to our neighbours; and we've found different ways to act on that knowledge as the centuries have gone by.
But in these days, when the gap between the rich and the poor keeps getting wider and wider, it's worth telling this parable again. In these days when both the LACK of money and the EXCESS of money eat away at people's souls, it's worth telling again. In these days when so many voices that claim to speak for God are telling the unsuspecting that wealth is a sign of God's favour, it's worth telling this story again, and noting that God says this man hasn't been righteous, or financially savvy: he's been a fool. It's worth mentioning that Jesus, the Son of God, never had two shekels to rub together, and he wasn't afraid of the future. And it's worth mentioning that the Bible tells us that earthly wealth is temporary at best, immoral at worst; and it has a dangerous tendency to distract us from the things of the spirit.
So, as I say, I hope this is all really obvious to you. But what's less obvious for a lot of people, is what we're supposed to do with this information.
The first impulse of many who hear this parable is to try to think up some scheme by which they can make themselves “rich toward God” before it's too late. And so, in a panic, they start volunteering to do good works for various caring agencies. They get out their chequebooks and start making sizable donations to worthy causes. They sponsor a child in the Third World, and they put a Bible verse bumper sticker on their vehicle. They take on the earth-friendly challenges of Meatless Mondays and Buy-Nothing Tuesdays. All with the nagging question in the back of their minds – when will I have done enough?
Now -- these are all great, unselfish things to do; they are all commendable activities – BUT they won't make you rich toward God. The only one who can make you rich toward God . . . is God. The only one who can make you rich in God's terms . . . is God!
Being “rich toward God” doesn't mean stock-piling good deeds that you hope you can trade for God's love and approval. As we've been seeing over the past few weeks in our scripture lessons, God isn't running a business; and God can't be bought with our efforts at being virtuous any more than God can be bought by our worldly wealth. Our relationship with God, our salvation, and our eternal life is not paid for with even our best deeds on our best days. There are not enough of them for one thing, and even what we DO accomplish is polluted with our sin and selfishness. No, we cannot buy our eternal future. It is bought FOR us, though, with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And he gives it all to us as a gift.
Remember Martha, featured in our gospel lesson a couple of weeks ago? She was driving herself to distraction in trying to prove to Jesus, with her acts of service, that she was a “good person” and “deserved” his love and recognition. And Jesus tells her, “Martha, only one thing is needful – there's only one thing that will never be lost – and that's the relationship we'll have when you just sit down and let me give you my love, my peace, my life and my grace.”
“The riches of God's grace” -- that's a phrase that's used time and again in the New Testament. “The riches of God's grace” poured out upon us lavishly, abundantly as Christ poured out his life for us. The riches of God's grace are the only riches that can give us security that cannot be lost. The riches of God's grace are the only riches that can give us a future. God's kindness is the only currency that matters, and it is God's gift to us, if we will only stop refusing it, and losing it, and throwing it away.
And we don't have to lose or refuse or throw away the treasure God gives us. There's a barn to keep it in – a barn, a bin, a granary, whatever you'd like to call it – in which we can hold this treasure. It's a spiritual storehouse called Discipleship, and it helps us to keep this gift we've been given.
You've seen those 8-sided barns that the Mennonites used to build across the prairies? Well, there are six-sided barns too – and Discipleship is a barn with six walls. And now, while there's time, before the growing season is over, it's a good idea to have a look at your discipleship garner and evaluate its condition.
The first wall of the Discipleship barn is Prayer, daily prayer. If that wall is firmly in place, then the gift of new, clean and eternal life will not slip away. Is yours in good shape? Is it big enough? There are grown up people, well-advanced in years, whose only prayer is still “Now I lay me down to sleep.” In all their years of coming and going, doing and learning, meeting and mixing, they've never made any progress in prayer, and are timid to speak to God – as if they're not sure that his treasure is meant for them. As if they're thinking, “God might give this treasure to others, but not to me.” That's so sad! So unnecessary. Didn't we hear in last week's gospel, how ready God is to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who just asks, and seeks and knocks? And the Holy Spirit would transform you, and the church the Holy Spirit made would hold you up, and the pastor the Holy Spirit called would guide you – if only you took the bar off the door of your granary – and prayed.
The second of the 6 walls is called Worship, weekly worship Is that wall in good shape? Is it big enough? I realize I'm probably preaching to the dedicated today, on an August long weekend, but we know there are folks who congratulate themselves on attending worship 6 times a year. That means they miss just under 90% of the opportunities in a year to gather to focus on God, to consciously be in God's presence, to call on God's name among God's people, to receive his gracious word and sacraments – and statistics show us that people who miss worship for only 3 weeks in a row have only a 50% chance of ever coming back. Look at that! In only 3 weeks, the world can tear down half of the second wall of your granary. And without that wall, how will you keep the treasure you've been given by God from slipping away? Especially when the devil and the world and your own worst instincts start whispering through the holes in the wall, “There's nobody out there. There's nobody greater than you, nobody looking out for you, nobody with any answers for you. You thought there was a treasure, but there isn't. Let go of that idea.” And you will let it go, too, if there's no regular worship in your life.
The 3rd of the walls is called Reading the Scripture. Every day. Letting God speak to you in his Word. Tell you about himself, and about your life together. Show you the truth you can rely on, instead of making up silly religious fantasies for yourself. There are grown-up Christians, baptized for years, who cannot find the Book of Romans in a Bible, much less take any comfort from God's promise in that book that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor anything –past, present, or future –that could ever make God stop loving you. . . . That's a wall you need! That's the cure for spiritual amnesia! That's the cure for superstition! That's the food you spirit needs! That's the wall that keeps you from forgetting how valuable your treasure is!
The fourth wall is called Serving – and that's not the same as doing all those good deeds to try to score points with God. Real serving is honestly assessing what your abilities and your resources are, and then discerning what needs doing in your congregation and in the world. Where they intersect, that's your calling --that's your vocation. That's where you serve – not because you're trying to GET something from God, but because God has already GIVEN you his life and his love. This wall is the one you need when the devil, the world and your own worst instincts start whispering through the holes, “This treasure is meaningless. This gift of grace doesn't make any real, tangible difference in your life, or in anybody's life.” But when we Serve in Jesus' name . . . we find out that's not true.
The fifth wall is called Relating – relating to other Christians so that you can grow in your faith. Christian friendship, you might call it. You need close Christian friends so you can talk and share your experiences, your difficulties, pray for each other, give each other encouragement and advice, keep each other honest! There are people who after all these years can't even bring themselves to say the name of Jesus aloud without giggling. Who refer to God as “the man upstairs” -- because they have no one – not spouse, not pastor, not friend – with whom they can discuss their faith or their doubts with frankness and without fear. Remember that hymn? Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love! It sure is blest! Even the blessed Virgin Mary herself had Joseph to talk to about what was going on with Jesus in her life. Without this wall, you have no protection when that whispering comes again, saying, “This treasure makes you weird. Nobody else has to live with this. It's uncomfortable. You can't touch it. You can't enjoy it. You'll never understand it. Might as well get rid of it.” But when you relate on a faith-heart-level with other Christians, that whispering goes away.
And the sixth wall is Giving – giving up to 10% of our income to the work of God's church – giving our time to our brothers and sisters in Christ – giving of our abilities and knowledge to the work of God's church. Giving means we're aware we've been given much, and having experienced generosity, we become fearlessly generous. Giving means we don't believe in money as much as we believe in God. Giving means we're not defined by what our money can buy so much as what our God has provided. Giving means that we cannot be bought and sold by this world, because we belong to Christ. And when we learn these lessons by doing, then the last wall becomes stronger.
So those are the six walls of our Discipleship barn – bin – granary – whatever you'd like to call it. And now is a good time, this end of summer time, to think about yours. How are your walls? Are they intact? Shaky? Are there gaps and holes and places that don't measure up? Well, you know what? If you improve even one wall , you will hold your treasure better and be in less danger of losing it. And if you've already lost or squandered some treasure, God will replenish. But why risk it? Why lose any at all? You might even think about expanding your granary, and making it bigger! As we said before, the Holy Spirit, and the church the Spirit made, and the pastor the Spirit called are there to help and guide you.
Perhaps you do have plans to do this someday. When things are less busy, when this or that crisis is past, you'll repair those walls and maybe improve your discipleship. I know how it goes. But . . . someday never comes for some people. And some people run out of somedays. Look what happened to the man in the parable. Let's not be melodramatic, but as we look around this congregation, how many of us have 30 years of discipleship left? How many of us have 10? (This parable comes up every three years in the lectionary schedule. Will you hear it in church 10 more times? Three more times? Never again?) After all . . . the growing season is short, and the nights are getting longer.
The growing season is short, but it's not over. Most of us grew to our full physical stature long ago – and maybe even are shrinking a bit! Many of us have reached the end of our work life, or our professional career. But our spiritual life may be just beginning! Maybe we don't have to waste our retirement years, like the man in the parable planned to, with merely eating and drinking and amusing ourselves to death. Maybe now is the time we learn to pray with new words and new ideas we'd never dreamed of. Maybe now is the time we learn to worship with our whole heart and whole attention fixed on God. Maybe now is the time we read the whole Bible, or the whole Book of Romans, or attend a Bible study . . . or at least learn the 10 Commandments! Even a baby step is still a step in the right direction! Maybe now is the time we learn |'to number our days so that we can apply our hearts to wisdom' . . . real wisdom. Maybe now is the time we learn to serve, to relate, to give in ways that let us hold and keep and appreciate that precious, gracious gift of new and eternal life together with God. Maybe NOW. . . is that someday. Because that, my friends, would be really good news. Amen.
